Uncle Roger and The Undisputed Bang-For-Bang (b4b) Champion

"That mother***** is on the A-side meth, that's what the f*** he's on," "It's called the A-side meth. He on that or he on something else. The A-side meth is what they used to have 500 years ago. Remember when the Philippines were fighting the US soldiers? They were shooting them motherf****s with 45s. And 45s were bouncing off their motherf****ng a$$. They weren't even dying!" -- Roger Mayweather.

Manny Pacquiao, currently regarded as the pound for pound king, who first fought at flyweight and is now bashing faces with his fists on welterweight, is on something. But it's not mother****ing "A-side meth", or "roids".

Victor said: It's called "Malunggay"; English name is "Moringa", and known in India as "Sajina".

Actually there's some truth to what Uncle Roger was trying to say, here's an article I dug-up from America's Forgotten War - The Philippine-American War 1899-1902.

101 years ago when the Philippines was a Commonwealth of the United States, in the island of Mindanao, Southern Philippines, far far away, in the land of the braves- the Bangsa Moros.

By Major Van Harl, USAF Ret.

In the late 1890s when we were at war in the Philippines the Army had switched to a DA .38 Long Colt caliber revolver. We were facing a new type of enemy, the Muslin extremist, the Moro. They were known to use native drugs that inhibited the sensation of pain. This meant that when they went into battle with US soldiers and got shot by a rather anemic .38 caliber revolver it just did not reliably stop the Moro. After numerous US deaths, old Colt 45 revolvers, long in storage back in the States, were rushed to the Philippines and issued to the troops.

Even hopped-up Moros were unable to disregard the pain of a 45 round, no matter how big a dose of native pain killer they had taken.

In all History books written by more reliable historians, there were no mentions of drugs or pain killers used by the Moros.

The Moro rituals "Juramentado" before the charge are described by historians below.

For generations warlike Moro tribes had been successfully preventing Spain from fully controlling the areas around Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, developing a well-earned reputation as notorious seafaring raiders, adept naval tacticians, and ferocious warriors who frequently demonstrated extraordinary personal bravery in combat. While Moro forces could never match opponents' fire power or armor, such bands used intelligence, audacity and mobility to raid strongly defended targets and quickly defeat more vulnerable ones. One extreme Moro tactic was the suicide attack or juramentado.

Undertaken as an unorthodox form of personal jihad, mag-sabil, "who endure the pangs of death," were selected from fanatical Muslim youth inspired to martyrdom by the teaching of Imams. Parents were consulted before the young men were permitted by the sultan to undergo training and preparation for Parang-sabil (the path to Paradise). After an oath taken, hand on the Qur'an, the chosen took a ritual bath, all body hair was shaved, and the eyebrows trimmed to resemble "a moon two days old." A strong band was wrapped firmly around the waist, and cords wrapped tightly around the genitals, ankles, knees, upper thighs, wrists, elbows, and shoulders, restricting blood flow and preventing the mag-sabil from losing too much blood from injury before accomplishing his gruesome task. Clad in white robe and turban, the chosen youth would polish and sharpen his weapons before action.

This account of the Moro Juramentados binding or wrapping their body & limbs to stop or reduce the loss of blood is more accurate because there is no recorded herbal medicine for the Juramentados available at the time. There are records however of U.S. soldiers in awe and shock when they saw the bullets from their 038 cal. hand guns & 30-40 Krag rifles hit but the Moros kept charging their line.

Thank god some of them Moros converted to Christianity. The Moro rebellion started in 1899 and was declared over by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902. However, Moro resistance continued & ended in 1935.

Since Uncle Roger mentioned the Colt .45 caliber pistol, I find it fitting to share to our readership the service history of the .45 cal. automatic pistols in the U.S. Army and the determination of the Pinoy Moros combat. It is not my intention to open a dark chapter in the American history for discussion but merely to illustrate by historical facts the courage & determination of the Mindanaoans when faced with overwhelming adversities. Religion might have changed as the majority of the Filipinos converted to Catholicism but they are still descendants of this proud ancient Filipino Mindanaoans, the Bangsa Moros.

COLT M1905 AUTOMATIC PISTOL

Excerpt from Chapter Two of John Potocki's new book about Model 1905 and Model 1907 pistols.

Events in the Philippines during the Insurrection, specifically the dismal performance of the .38 D.A. Colt, were to cause the military to rethink the issue of caliber (i.e. stopping power) in a handgun.

One of the most graphic references about lack of stopping power comes from Colonel Louis A. LaGarde, M.D. in his classic text, Gunshot Injuries, published in 1916.

LaGarde writes the following: Antonio Caspi a prisoner on the Island of Samar, P.I. attempted to escape on Oct. 26, 1905. He was shot four times at close range in a hand-to-hand encounter by a .38 Colt's revolver loaded with U.S. Army regulation ammunition. He was finally stunned by a blow on the forehead from the butt end of a Springfield carbine. 1. Bullet entered chest near right nipple, passed upward, backwards and outwards, perforated lung and escaped through back passing through edge of right scapula. 2. Bullet entered chest through left nipple, passed upwards, backwards and inwards, perforating lung and lodging in subcutaneous tissues. 3. Bullet entered chest near left shoulder, passing downwards and backwards, perforating lung and lodged in back. 4. Bullet entered through palm of left hand and passed through subcutaneous tissues and escaped through wound on anterior surface of forearm. Treated at military hospital, Borongan, Samar. Turned over to civil authorities cured, Nov. 23, 1905.

This exacting, clinical description by Col. LaGarde, is chilling in its implicit condemnation of the .38 Colt.

Perhaps our adversaries in the Philippines were of an unusual nature. That is, perhaps they were of extreme size. One would think so after reading LaGarde's account. Well, not so. As a matter of fact, they were small by our standards. Consider the following from Russel Roth's Muddy Glory: American Indian Wars in the Philippines. As to the size of the Moros:

The individual Moro is, on the average from five-feet-five to five-feet-seven inches tall, solidly built erect of carriage. The Moros are a proud, haughty, war like people ... and one rarely found a Moro man who did not bear the scars of hand to hand fighting with Kris, Barong (Bolo) or spear. ...Moro men, unwilling that their families shall survive them, charge, holding their children as shields before them.

While not large by our standards, they were never-the-less quite fierce and determined. This is evidenced by the following comment from Gen.John "Black Jack" Pershing:

He [the Moro warrior] is absolutely fearless, and once committed to combat he counts death as a mere incident.

It did not take American combatants long to figure out that the .38 was a problem. Again, from Muddy Glory:

The Americans had become acquainted with the Juramentado. "A Moro who had worked himself up to religious fanaticism and goes forth to kill all unbelievers in Mohammadanism until he himself is killed." It took some killing (Capt.) Wood watched as - A Moro rushed out of the tall grass ... and made a beeline for one of our flankers. The man emptied his rifle into the Moro, but he came bounding on and did not stop... That was why the war Dept. recalled its .38 caliber Colt and Smith and Wesson revolvers from the Philippines and substituted the heavier Colt .45.

Another account of Moro determination:

...he was finally felled by a .45 slug through both ears... He had thirty-two Krag balls through him and was only stopped by the Colt .45 - the thirty-third bullet.

As a result of these experiences, the Army wisely shipped new .45s to the Philippine Constabulary in 1902 and the carnage continued……….

So there…… is it A-side Meth or natural physical abilities? By historical facts, he is the Bang For Bang (b4b) Champion, no doubt.